After unifying much of India, Chandragupta and his chief advisor Chanakyapassed a series of major economic and political reforms. He established a strong central administration from Pataliputra (now Patna), patterned after Chanakya's text on governance and politics, the Arthashastra.^[24]Chandragupta's India was characterised by an efficient and highly organised structure. The empire built infrastructure such as irrigation, mines and roads, leading to a strong economy.^[25][26] With internal and external trade thriving and agriculture flourishing, the empire built a large and trained permanent army to help expand and protect its boundaries. Greek records suggest that art and city architecture thrived during his rule.^[27] Chandragupta's reign, as well the dynasty that followed him, was an era when many religions thrived in India, with Buddhism, Jainism and Ajivika gaining prominence along with the Brahmanism traditions.^[28][29]

He became famous for his seventeen-year overland journey to India, which is recorded in detail in the classic Chinese text Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which in turn provided the inspiration for the novel Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty, around nine centuries after Xuanzang's death.^[1]

The first recorded Polo is Venetian Domenico Polo who was mentioned in 971 regarding the prohibition of trade with the Arabs.^[16][21] Later other Polos were also mentioned in the service of the realm.^[16][21]Whether they were related with the family of Marco Polo is uncertain, but this could indicate that his ancestors travelled between Venice and Dalmatia.^[16]

Some of the first indications of where his family originated and were resident come from Venetian documents and manuscripts.^[22] In the 1280 testament of Marco Polo's homonymous uncle it is said that the uncle previously lived in Constantinople, and that his son Nicollo and daughter Marota at the time of testament lived in family house in Soldaia (in Crimea).^[23][22] Some scholars argued that this account could go along with the note from Il Milione that his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, in 1250 stayed in Constantinople with merchandise from Venice.^[9][22]

The non-Venetian i.e. Dalmatian origin of his family was considered by the Venetians themselves since the 14th century; in the Chronicon Iustiniani (1385) his family was mentioned among immigrants in Venice,^{[nb 2]} in the Cronaca di Venezia (1446) along his family coat of arms it states "antigamente vene de Dalmatia" (in ancient times came from Dalmatia), and the same again was recorded by Marino Sanuto the Younger in Le Vite dei Dogi (1552).^[24][25] Sanuto also mentioned a captain from Korčula, Antonio di Polo.^[26] Marco Barbaro in his Genealogie Patrizie (1566) mentioned a document from 1033 by which time the family arrived from Šibenik, but the year was probably symbolically chosen by Barbaro himself as in that is the year that Dalmatian cities were conquered by Venetian Doge Pietro II Orseolo.^[16][27] Arthur C. Moule cited two early 17th century Venetian manuscripts "questi ueneno de dalmatia", "Polo questi uene de Dalmatia".^[24][28]

Scholars etymologically argued that his family name derives from Latin Paulus,^[16][21] the name of a certain bird species,^[29] or like Albert t'Serstevens considered - from Eastern origin.^{[nb 3]} Two bird species - the shorebird wader the jackdaw, and the chough - fit the representation of the bird(s) in family coat of arms. These birds are called pol in the Old Croatian dialect from Poljica, and pola/pole in the Old Venetian dialect (compared to Italian pollo, rooster).^[29][31][22] However, the habitat of the shorebird is non-existent on Korčula, and should be related to Venice laguna or wetland areas of Dalmatia like that of Šibenik.^[32] The surname Polo seems related with other widespread Dalmatian surnames.^[33] The lack of evidence makes the Korčula theory (probably under Ramusio influence^[34]) as a specific birthplace strongly disputed,^[9] and even some Croatian scholars consider it justly invented.^[35]

During his trip, Nikitin studied the population of India, its social system, government, military (he witnessed war-games featuring war elephants), its economy, religion, lifestyles, and natural resources. The abundance and trustworthiness of Nikitin's factual material provide a valuable source of information about India at that time.

He visited the city during the rule of King Krishna Deva Raya^[1] and recorded his impressions of Vijayanagara state in his Chronica.